Men Can Spy On Future Wife While Bathing, Per Egyptian Fatwa

Here's the latest wacky fatwa out of Egypt. Salafist preacher Usama al-Qawsi says it's okay to spy on your future wife while she's bathing.

In a video, Salafist preacher Usama al-Qawsi said that the man can “hide" while watching the woman he “intends to marry” bathe.

“If you were really honest and wanted to marry that woman, and you were able to hide and watch her in secret, see the things that she wouldn’t usually let you see before marrying her, then it is acceptable as long as your intentions are pure,” Qawsi said in a video.

“One of the Prophet’s companions did that. Some disapproved and told him: ‘How do you do that when you’re one of the Prophet’s companions?’ The Prophet answered: ‘If you can see something that would make you want to marry her then go ahead and do it.’”

That fatwa was struck down by Egyptian religious authorities.

Hahaha. Oh those dirty Salafists.

Video and more here.

Benghazi Bites The Dust?- Declared An Islamic Emirate

The fall of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi spawned the rise of the Salafist jihadi militant group Ansar al-Sharia. Those same Islamists responsible for the murder of  U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and several other Americans during the 2012 Benghazi attack, have been battling to take over Benghazi ever since, and have finally succeeded.  At least that's what they claim. As of late Wednesday, Benghazi is now an "Islamic emirate", says Mohammed al-Zahawi, Ansar al-Sharia's spokesperson.

Not so, says Khalifa Haftar.

"..Khalifa Haftar, a retired, renegade former army general who earlier this year launched a self-declared campaign to clear the city of Islamist militants, denied the group’s claims.

“The national Libyan army is in control of Benghazi and only withdrew from certain positions for tactical reasons,” Haftar told Al Arabiya News Channel.

“The claim that Benghazi is under the control of militias is a lie,” he said.

So, did Benghazi bite the dust and fall to Ansar al-Sharia?  Hard to tell, at this point, but I'm sure in the coming days it will become clearer who actually controls the city.  We know there have been some recent major battles in Benghazi, attacks on the airport prompting an evacuation of American personnel from the city, and news that an army base was taken over by Islamists and militiamen, so I'm thinking it's more likely that Ansar al-Sharia accomplished its goal. For now. And if they have, expect more bloodshed.

More here.

The rising tide of Islamism does not bode well for that region.

German Muslim Convert Preacher Plans A Celebration For Osama Bin Laden

Idiot of the day. Or rather idiots.  Pierre Vogel aka Abu Hamza is a German Muslim convert- a former prize boxer-turned-preacher. But he didn't just convert to Islam, he turned to Salafism, the most extreme forms of Islam.

Role of women in society?  Not his concern, after all his wife wears a niqab.

In the Spiegel video below we see that 1,100 or so mostly male Islamists have followed him to Hamburg where his goal is to convert infidels, and he manages to do quite well at it. We get to see some fool of a woman convert, and the reporters talk with a newly converted young male. When asked if he finds the teachings of vogel to be compatible with democracy, someone in the background tells him not to answer, and the kid walks away. As the reporter asks if he's not allowed to respond, two aggressive Islamists pipe in with "he is allowed, but doesn't have to."

Reporter: "You have just sent him away."
Islamist: "We don't force him."

It's quite obvious they had.

When asked what will happen to those who change their mind about converting.

"The punishment, if one dies as a non-Muslim, is: one goes to hell."

Even though Vogel publicly rejects violence and terror, claiming to be a 'peace activist', the dude is planning a remembrance celebration for Osama Bin Laden.

Muslim Husbands Must Hate Non-Muslim Wives, Says Egyptian Salafi Cleric

Egyptian Salafist and founder of the Al Nour Party Yassir al-Burhami talks about the importance of Muslim men hating their non-Muslim infidel wives, although it's perfectly okay to love their looks, money etc.

Marrying women of the book (i.e. Jews or Christians) is discouraged, but if a Muslim man is compelled to marry one, he must "make her hate her religion while continuing marriage/sexual relations with her." And he must show her he hates her because of her religion. Then he justifies having a loveless marriage by comparing it to how a rapist views his victim- no love, just using her body.

Egyptian Salafist Mob Kills 4 Shia Muslims

A mob of Egyptian Salafists stormed a home full of Shia Muslim worshippers in Abu Mussalam, Egypt (near Cairo) brutally killing four of them. According to citizen journalist Hazem Barakat, women were inciting the violence, and no-one including police did anything about it. Barakat tried to get the Central Security Forces to intervene, to no avail. He has it all on tape.

They just can't get along.

Salafi Rebels Destroy "Prophet Abraham" Mausoleum In Syria

More Salafi ignorance.

From May 16, 2013: A radical Wahhabi group affiliated with al-Qaeda's Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front) is seen surrounding and then destroying with a bulldozer a historic mausoleum or shrine visited by pilgrims for the prophet Abraham, who supposedly spent some time with his wife Sarah in the town of Ayn al-Arous where the shrine was built. Ayn al-Arous is located south of Tal Abyad in the Raqqa province in northern Syria.

The person filming the scene refers to the shrine as containing heresies and being worshiped besides Allah without specifying who exactly worshiped the edifice.

This practice of destroying tombs and shrines is nothing new for the al-Qaeda Salafis, for they are currently practicing the same type of behavior in Tunisia, Mali, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc.

Video- Salafist Tunisian Talks Of Conquering Andalusia, Rome and Jerusalem

Tunisian Salafist Kamel Zarouq of Ansar al-Sharia, talks about the Islamic goal of conquering Andalusia, Rome and Jerusalem. And that it will happen in his lifetime.

Egyptian Salafist- Boston Bombing Was A Message, and All Infidels Deserve To Be Destroyed

Egyptian Salafi cleric Sheikh Murgan Salem al-Gohary (the same man who advocated demolishing the great Pyramids) commented on the Boston Marathon massacre, saying that if it was the mujahideen, it was a message to

"America and the West: We are still alive. Contrary to what you say, we have not died."  

But he doesn't believe it was al-Qaeda linked since it was

"extremely amateurish. The standards of al-Qaeda are much higher." 

In other words, had it been an al-Qaeda operation there would have been many more dead and injured.

He also claims he did not have the honor of being a member of al-Qaeda, but he knew all those involved, including Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri, and that they were like family.

 "I am happy and proud to have been a friend of these brothers."  

He calls the terrorists who have taken the "war" to American turf "courageous heroes."

He warns Westerners (France, the U.S. and the whole Western world) that they are "facing a deluge, and they will be destroyed."

He goes on to say:

"...that the path of al-Qaeda is the path of the Quran, which calls upon (Muslims) to wage Jihad against infidels who attack them, and intervene in their affairs. This is the path of Islam and the Quran, and not something invented by Osama Bin Laden. [snip] It was sent down by Allah, and anyone who thinks he can defeat this path is delusional."

The host then asks the Sheikh who he considers to be an infidel.

"Anyone who does not accept Islam. They are either original infidels, like the Jews and Christians, or apostates, like the secularists, liberals, Communists or Socialists. Whoever does not accept Islam is an infidel. Allah said so, not me."

So there you have it, anyone who is not a Muslim is an infidel, and we all deserve to die.

And they let this man live freely in Egypt.

Watch video.

Egyptian Salafi Swears Christians Worship The Male Ding Dong

This has to be seen to be believed.

An interview with the Egyptian Salafi who swears by Allah that the Christian Church worships the male genitalia. The interviewer happens to be a Lebanese Christian.

Oh, and apparently "acting, adultery and prostitution, drugs, dancers, cigarettes, opium, theater and cinema is a Christian-Zionist product." I guess those evil Christian-Zionists have infiltrated Muslim Afghanistan, because it happens to be the top producer of opium in the whole wide world.




And why was this bearded one googling about ding dong worship to begin with?

Egypt Get's Its Unofficial Morality Police Force

So Egypt is taking the next step to turning into another Iran or Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan with the creation of a brand-spanking new 'unofficial' morality police force for Cairo.  The newly minted Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will make sure no-one strays from the Islamic moral path, although the founder- Cleric Hisham al-Ashri- swears it will be nothing like its Saudi namesake. Only "non-violent methods" for the Egyptian CPVP. According to the IB Times:

El-Ashri said: "We will only offer advice to those who want to listen. We shall have no business with people who refuse to listen to us."

Right. Maybe for now but that will definitely change once they get established.  In fact, Bikya News said the Salafists will have canes to punish violators, and eventually will move into the 21st century by getting tasers.

Al-Ashri is the same man who,

Following his recent return from the U.S. al-Ashri gave a television interview during which he declared: "It is the dream of my life to wage war against Israel." He also stated: "There is no such thing as a Christian religion."

Interesting to note that back in 2012, President Mohammed Morsi vowed to deal with "moral" vigilantism", and denied the existence of any morality police, even though there have been several incidents of vigilantism.

There is no 'Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' in Egypt as has been rumoured of late, Yasser Ali, acting spokesman for Egypt's newly-inaugurated President Mohamed Morsi, said on Wednesday.

"It's not true that there is such a committee; the incidents that have happened of late were all instigated by individuals and investigations are still underway," he said.

I can't imagine Al-Ashri would have set up his CPVP without Morsi's approval. I hope the Egyptian people continue to take a stand before it's too late.

Sadly, not unexpected.

Muhammad Al-Zawahiri Protests French Embassy In Cairo Over Mali

Here's MEMRI's latest video of Egyptians, including Muhammad al-Zawahiri, demonstrating in front of the French Embassy in Cairo threatening that "it will come to a bitter end"  if the French don't withdraw from Mali- calling it aggression against Muslims. Of course, in their supreme ignorance, they see it that way, not that- in actuality- it's the Islamic extremists who are the aggressors against the people of Mali. They were doing just fine with their moderate version of Islam until the Islamists took control over the north.

Then again, one has to consider the source- Muhammad's big bro is Al-Qaeda's Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

At one point protesters chant "Khaybar, Khayber, Oh Jews, Muhammad's army is here."  Anyone care to explain what Jews have to do with the presence of French troops in Mali?

Egyptian Salafist Says He Wants War With Israel, Christianity Doesn't Exist and is 9/11 Truther

Hisham Al-Ashri, Muslim Brotherhood turned Salafist and founder of the uber conservative religious group 'Commission for the Promotion of  Virtue and Prevention of Vice' in Egypt, is making waves again. This is the same man who said he would wait outside Coptic Christian Churches during their Christmas celebrations to convert them to Islam, and demanded that all Coptic women wear the veil. The same group that tried to cut the tongue off the brother of a shopkeeper- for insulting Islam- after he came to aid the shopkeeper who was being attacked for telling a "bearded man" he couldn't just barge in to use the toilet.

Al-Ashri, you see, believes that there is no such thing as Christianity. In an interview on Al-Tahrir TV he tells the host there is no such thing as Christianity, that "Jesus came to prophesy monotheism," and that Islam "is the true religion," and Muslims will be the only ones to enter paradise. He then goes on to say, "out of love for Christians, I call upon them to enter paradise with me."

Thanks but no thanks.

In the interview he also talks about how waging an official war with Israel is his life's dream, but only if it's government sanctioned.

And last but not least, Al-Ashri is a 9/11 Truther. Thanks to all the many fools out there who believe jihadists had nothing to do with the blowing up of the twin towers, Al-Ashri is conveniently promoting those theories as well:

The host has asked him about jihad and did the attack on 9/11 constitute jihad.  Al-Ashri responds:

"It depends on who did it. Jihad is only for Muslims.  They even say jihad in English, because they have no equivalent.  I call on everybody to type in google "jihad" and then click.  You will get an incredible amount of videos, documents and documentaries made by Americans, not Muslims, Arabs or people of Arab origin, proving that Islamists had nothing to do with 9/11, unless they were targeted."

Watch the interview on the Memri TV video here.

Democracy "Forbidden In Islam"- Says Jordan's Abed Shehadeh

It's quite obvious that democracy and Islam are incompatible, at least with Islamists, and now the head of Salafis in Jordan has actually verbalized it.

Gatestone Institute's Khaled Abu Toameh discusses that notion:

Why are radical Muslims opposed to the upcoming parliamentary election in Jordan?

Because they believe that democracy is in contradiction with Islam's concept of the sovereignty of Allah's law. They argue that Islam and democracy cannot go together, and they are obviously right, especially if one considers the experiences of people living under Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thanks to the "Arab Spring," which has seen the rise of Islamists to power in a number of countries, Muslim extremists today feel free to express their opinion on political and religious issues.

One of them, Abed Shehadeh, leader of the Salafi Jihadi movement in Jordan, ruled this week that democracy in its concept as "ruling of the people by the people" and "should be forbidden in Islam."

Shehadeh, who is also known as Abu Mohammad Tahawi, explained that sovereignty and government belong to Allah alone and not to the people.

He said that the upcoming parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for January 23, were forbidden and contradictory to Islamic Shariah "because the parliament legislates laws and regulations that contradict Allah's law."

Shehadeh also criticized electoral programs presented by the candidates and lists. He said that the "the electoral slogans used by the candidates were "impossible to implement on the ground."

He urged Jordanians to boycott the elections because "choosing legislators other than Allah is forbidden."

The Salafi Jihadi leader's call for boycotting the election does not seem to have fallen on deaf ears in Jordan, where many voters seem determined to boycott the vote.

Although it is banned in Jordan, the Salafi Jihadi movement has managed to recruit several thousand supporters over the past few years.

Read the rest here.

Egyptian Salafists- Fatwa Against "Christian" Tomatoes

We have more stupid veggie/fruit fatwas. First it was the banana, cucumber and any other phallic-shaped fruit or veggie. Although the source was unverifiable, the fatwa banned women from touching them, for very obvious reasons.

Now Muslims are targeting the veggie that, botanically-speaking, is really a fruit- the rich in lycopene tomato. Yes, the "Popular Egyptian Islamic Association", one of the many Salafist groups that crawled out of the woodwork after the Arab Spring, has decided that tomatoes are for Christians only because when cut in half you see the sign of the cross. Maybe vampire killers can add the tomato to their arsenal of weapons.

NowLebanon.com reported that PEIA posted the fatwa on its Facebook page along with the above photo.

"Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three [in reference to the Holy Trinity]. "I implore you to spread this photo because there is a sister from Palestine who saw the Prophet of Allah in a vision and he was crying, warning his nation against eating [tomatoes]. If you don’t spread this [message], know that it is the devil who stopped you.”

Naturally, the fatwa caused an uproar among the less ignorant of Facebook users, so PEIA changed its message claiming it was not outright banning people from eating tomatoes, no, it was just a warning for them not to

"...cut it in [such a way that it reveals] the cross shape.”

Yes, and these are the people taking over Egypt and elsewhere.

Germany Cracks Down On Salafist Muslims

Salafists might be doing well in the Middle-East and Africa where they've recently risen to power, but Germany is actively scavenging for these Muslim supremacists in addition to banning one group, with two others being investigated.

In an effort to purge the country of extremists, a massive police raid was launched across Germany in the following seven states:

Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Berlin, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

One of the raids was at Salafist preacher Ibrahim Abu Nagie's house in Cologne.

Germany is apparently a haven for Muslim extremists with a penchant for violence. In fact, some of the 9/11 terrorists were members of a mosque in Hamburg. As a result, the German government has banned the Islamist group Millatu Ibrahim, which is located in Solingen, in the belief that its members are actively pursuing the creation of an Islamic caliphate. It is also believe that they are attempting to recruit followers, including giving away free Qurans.

There are around 4 million Muslims living in Germany with at least 4,000 of those Salafists. Almost 50% of German Muslims are citizens (mostly from Turkey), but of those who aren't, 48% reject integration. In fact:

Nearly every fourth non-German Muslim rejects integration, questions western values and tends to accept violence, according to a study commissioned by the German Interior Ministry and released late Thursday morning.

The survey conducted by the interior ministry has them very worried:

“The Daily Life of Young Muslims in Germany” surveyed Muslims between 14 and 32 who had not become German citizens. It also interviewed several generations of Muslims living in Germany and evaluated television programmes.

The survey also showed that among the 14 to 32-year-olds there exists a "subgroup" of religious extremists who hold anti-western views and are reportedly prepared to use violence.

This group amounts to about 15 percent of Muslims with German citizenship and about 24 percent for Muslims who are not German.

The rapidly increasing trend of Muslims towards religious conservatism is definitely alarming, and I'd be worried too.

Salafists Destroy "Offensive" Art Work In Tunisia

Divine Creatures- offensive to Islamists in Tunisia

Instead of just ignoring something one might find offensive, the boorish, uncivilized Islamists want it outright banned or destroyed. And of course, their idea of offensive is often offensive in and of itself. An art exhibition/fair- The Printemps des Art Fair- in La Marsa, Tunisia was the latest target of their fanatical extremism. According to Luca Luccatini, the exhibit's director, four works in the exhibition were deemed "offensive to sacred values" by some Salafist oafs (two men, a woman in niqab and a lawyer) who showed up at the venue on Sunday and demanded they be removed.

When that didn't work someone broke into the gallery some time between Sunday night and Monday morning and destroyed some of the art works including some paintings (which they slashed) and an art installation which was removed and burned outdoors. A photograph was also apparently destroyed.

Luccatini had called the police after the first "aggressive" encounter- which included threats of returning-but that obviously was of no help, since they did, both to protest later that evening and then to destroy the work later on.

One of the 'offending' pieces was an art installation called "The Punching Ball" by Faten Gaddes. It's two punching bags, used in boxing, with a photo of a veiled woman and inscribed beneath the picture "I am a Christian woman." An obvious indictment against religious persecution. The abstract artwork above- "Divine Creatures"- was also found to be offensive, though no-one seems to know why. It's certainly not very appealing, but other than that, who knows. More than likely it was the title that they took umbrage with, since nothing is divine other than Mohammed and Allah. Or maybe it's the naked woman hidden amidst the mishmash of creatures.

A detailed account of the sequence of events can be found  in English on Tunisia Live here, and here. In French here.

After the initial encounter and before the vandalism occurred, the exhibit coordinators were able to galvanize fellow artists to counter Islamists who showed up in protest, and not surprisingly angry words were exchanged. And there has been criticism from both camps complaining about the other side's provocation. One Salafist, Mohamed Karim,  complained  about not being allowed to view the whole exhibition.

“I wanted to come to see for myself what was happening. I only saw a few pictures. They [supporters of the event] spoke a lot and I didn’t have a chance to see the other ateliers. They tried to provoke me, thank goodness I didn’t react."

And why should they let him? More importantly, why would he even want to view something he knows he would be offended by?!

Surprisingly, some feel the artists over-reacted, including a photographer who was at the event. Wijaya Mahouichi said,

“They are treating people unfairly. They are provoking people in front of the cameras.”

Well, I would too if it was my work or the work of my friends and people were threatening to destroy it.

Besides the destruction of art work, graffitti was found on the Abdallia Palace walls (where the event took place).

Freshly written messages in Arabic could be read including “Let God Be the Judge”, “Tunisia is an Islamic State, with the license of the Ministry of Culture, the Prophet of Allah gets insulted,” and “Hey you infidels, Ennahda, Tahryr and Salafist are brothers.”

Complaints have been filed, but no-one believes anything will happen since even the Culture Ministry, though claiming to support "freedom of creation", condemned some of the work as “all kinds of aggression against sacred values”. But what can one expect from an Islamist-led government.

To view some of the works, someone posted a video on a Facebook page. The video has the words  “Tomorrow all followers of Islam should rise in anger to defend Islam.”  There is also a list of all the artists that participated in the exhibit and photos of some of the supporters. Looks like some of the pieces might have hit a little too close to home, and those people will probably need to watch their backs.

As an artist and photographer the thought of anyone's work being destroyed infuriates me. No-one has the right to destroy another person's creative work. How dare they!

Bottom line, if you find something offensive turn the channel, turn the page or move on to the next painting. No-one is holding a gun to anyone’s head forcing them to view something they deem unsavory.

And they wonder why the West balks.

"Obama We Are All Osama" Chant 1000s of Tunisian Salafists At Rally

Thousands of Salafi Muslims gathered in Tunisia in a bizarre 'show' of force, at an Ansar Al-Sharia event on May 20. It seems they wanted to send a message to the world that jihad is great and they're coming- for us, I presume.

And they definitely don't like Barack Obama. At the beginning of the video we hear them chanting "Obama, Obama, we are all Osama". Like that isn't quite obvious enough.  Ironic, since other than giving the go-ahead to kill Osama Bin Laden - a terrorist - Obama has been a champion of Muslim causes. Then again, these ordinary Tunisians (some bearded, some not) obviously have terrorist sympathies, which just makes them terrorists, too.

Then Tunisian cleric Mokhtar Jbeli starts preaching:

"Some Tunisians and some Muslims are afraid of the jihadist. We must ask: how come? Because the enemies have distorted the image of the jihadists, presenting them as the enemies of the Muslims. We say: no! Every Muslim is a jihadist. The enemies of Islam want us to be like sheep, to act like women. They want to deprive us of our will. They plundered Palestine, and other lands and holy places. They want jihadists behind bars. Why? So that the holy places will not be liberated. We are all jihadists, supporting Jerusalem and elevating the word of Allah. Let us all cry "Allah Akbar" together, so that Obama the ape can hear us. All together now! Say "Allah Akbar.! Allah Akbar!" Let America hear us. "Allah Akbar!'

That goes on for a while, and then shouts of "We are coming! We are coming!"

More Allah Akbars, and "Hear us Obama! Say Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!"

The video switches to a wussy, ninja fight demonstration, and to the obligatory threats to Jews. "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning."

At the end some other speaker says: "We wan to convey a clear message, one that will reach the heavens. Say Allah Akbar!"

We don't want you to act like sheep or women, Mokhtar, we just want you to act civilized. And yes, we want jihadists behind bars, so you can't go around blowing people up.

And they wonder why some in the West have a problem with Islam?

Egyptian 'Veiled Women Only' TV Channel Causes A Stir

Egypt is getting a satellite TV channel that will be run "exclusively" by women.  Sheikha Safaa, the station's general manager, says  men will have no say in the choice of content or 'editorial policies'.

Wow, you might think, what other country has a female run television station? How terribly forward thinking of them, except that these women will wear not just the Islamic veil, they will take it one step further into religious fanaticism by wearing the niqab- the veil that totally de-personalizes  a woman by revealing only her eyes. Only until you discover who actually owns the channel does it actually make any sense.  Sheikh Abu Islam Ahmad Abd Allah is an ultra religious Salafist (Islamist) who decided to call his channel Marya after Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah. An odd choice of name since Mariyah was apparently a concubine, and a Christian Copt to boot. She was given to Mohammad as a gift and was the mother of his child, Ibrahim.  Since it's his channel, the Sheikh will act as a consultant.  Apparently, he has “media and scholastic expertise.”

According to Safaa, one of the main reasons for creating the channel was to counteract the marginalization of veiled women.

“The work in operations of the channel will be handled by the sisters in charge of management, especially as women are the best one to talk about their needs,” she said, adding that the channel  “aims at lifting injustice” on veiled women who suffer from marginalization.

There are those who are not too happy about it, though.

In an interview with Masrawy, veteran Egyptian TV host Tarek Habib denounced the idea of a TV channel only for veiled women, saying the niqab, has repeatedly been used in crimes.

He said it was essential to know the identity and the gender of who goes on air and speaks to millions of viewers.

Egyptian actress Athar Al Hakim, meanwhile, was also quoted by women’s magazine Majalatouki as criticizing the channel.

“I have the right to know who is talking to me on the television screen,” she said.

“The issue of niqab is a national security one and it is unacceptable in Egyptian society despite the religious diversity.”

On May 17 the channel’s owner clashed with Egyptian writer Nabil Sharf Eddine during a discussion on Dream TV.

Sharf Eddine described the Sheikh’s Marya TV as “a channel of the accursed Satan.”

The Sheikh hit back by describing him as “uncivilized."

Personally, I think it's stupid that women feel the need to wear the niqab, and one has to wonder how much sponsorship they will get for such a niche channel. Then again, the Middle East, including Egypt is becoming progressively more religiously conservative. But I suppose they have the right to do whatever they want, and people offended by it needn't switch that station on, I know I wouldn't. However, it does become a problem if the government starts to force all television stations to follow suit.

Will this set a precedent? Who knows, I hope not for their sake.

Tunisian Group's Anti-Niqab Video Causes A Ruckus

Although there are some subservient fools who believe that the niqab (full Islamic face veil with just a slit for the eyes) makes them more pious, there are others who are rallying to make sure it doesn't become the norm in their country.  Some women with an organization called Egalité et Parité  (Equality and Parity) in Tunisia, a country that is battling to ensure Salafists don't impose their ultra conservative ways on what once was a secular nation, produced an anti-niqab video (see below) which is, naturally, causing a ruckus.

In their campaign, Equality and Parity used niqab-shaped stickers and put them in bathroom stalls, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, and dressing rooms in malls. They filmed the reaction of women to the niqab stickers on the mirror, and turned them into a short film that is making its rounds on the internet.

Equality and Parity hopes that through this sticker campaign they can educate women and Tunisians in general on the severity of being forced to wear a niqab.

Ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali banned the niqab when he was in power, and since his departure there have been protests, including one at Manouba University, advocating for the niqab.

Ben Ali treated those who were outwardly religious with extreme suspicion. During his time in power, it was not uncommon for police to stop women in the street and order them to unveil. The niqab has found itself at the epicenter in the Salafi-secularist debate.

Suspicious with good reason, considering the ultra religious want to establish Sharia law and force everyone to become as religious as they are.

Members of Equality and Parity stated in a press release that:

“We are fighting with and for all Tunisians from all regions, including those living abroad, who are also involved in our cause. We commit to define each of our goals based on a preliminary analysis of the current sociopolitical situation, which seems to exclude Tunisian women, especially in decision-making bodies, means of mass communication and the public space,”

They also stated that they will not hesitate to protest or plan sit-ins if women's rights are violated. Their mission statement on their Facebook Page says they will:

Fight to combat the weak representation of women in decision making bodies, be they political, social, economic or cultural.

Take action
to establish full citizenship (for women),
to eradicate all discrimination,
to ensure equality between men and women,
to make sure Tunisia joins all International Conventions favoring human rights, and in particular the lifting of reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).

Not suprisingly, the usual suspects (both the religious Muslims and liberals) have been highly critical of the video.

Bye Bye Egyptian Islamists- Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood Candidates Lose Presidential Election Appeal

The three stooges- al-Shater, Suleiman and Abu Ismail

Khairat al-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhood presidential wannabee, who claimed he would impose Shariah (Islamic) law on Egypt if elected, isn't going to have that opportunity.  Neither is Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the Salafist preacher who said he would also force women to wear the hijab (Islamic veil) or change creed.  Those two, along with 8 other hopefuls, have been barred from running in the upcoming Egyptian presidential election this coming May. The 10, including Omar Suleiman (Mubarak's former spy chief), were given 48 hours to appeal, but lost.

Abu Ismail was ruled out because his mother held U.S. citizenship, the commission said, though he has fiercely denied this and has accused the authorities of conspiring against him. His blend of hardline Islam and revolutionary zeal has won him an enthusiastic following.

Suleiman, one of Hosni Mubarak's closest aides and his deputy in his last days in power, had been ruled out because he had too few of the voter endorsements candidates are required to present, according to the state news agency.

Shater had been disqualified because of a past criminal conviction. Like many other Brotherhood leaders, Shater had spent time behind bars for his association with a group that was officially outlawed under the Mubarak administration.

The committee also upheld its disqualification of Ayman Nour, a liberal who came a distant second to Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election.

Nobel Laureate and reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei pulled out in January, and the only female candidate, Bothaina Kamel, dropped out after failing to get enough signatures, though she has no regrets.

The Egyptians will have 23 candidates to choose from come May 23 and 24, and it's anticipated there will be a probable run-off in June. Let's hope they choose the right leader. At least the most problematic Islamist candidates have been eliminated, although I'm sure this isn't the end of them.

On July 1,  the Egyptian people will finally be under civilian rule.